Local residents asked to provide input into coordinated plan to fight opioid abuse and addiction

Milwaukee – The Milwaukee City-County Heroin, Opioid and Cocaine Task Force is issuing a call to local residents to join two upcoming community meetings to provide community input as the Task Force seeks to develop a comprehensive and coordinated plan to fight opioid abuse and addiction.

“Addiction and drug abuse continue to affect all parts of our community,” said Commissioner of Health Bevan K. Baker, chair of the Task Force. “As we work to build a comprehensive plan to address this epidemic, we need to hear directly from area residents.

“These listening sessions will help us gather better information so we can improve our treatment efforts and reach people before they are in crisis,” said Mike Lappen, Administrator of the Milwaukee County Behavioral Health Division and vice-chair of the Task Force. “County Executive Chris Abele’s decision to include $1.1 million in the budget to fight the opioid epidemic will strengthen our work and make it possible for us to help more people in Milwaukee County, and your input will make us even better at it.”

In January 2017, the Milwaukee Common Council voted unanimously to support Alderman Michael J. Murphy’s legislation establishing the Task Force and charged it with studying the problems of drug abuse in Milwaukee County and presenting policy recommendations to address the issue. When work is completed, the Task Force will issue a report of recommendations to the Milwaukee Common Council and Milwaukee County officials.

“Community input is essential to building a set of recommendations that will address the issues and needs in our city and county,” said Alderman Michael J. Murphy. “We ask anyone concerned about or affected by this issue to attend and share their concerns, ideas, and suggestions as we move forward in the fight against opioid and drug abuse.”